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At the peak of their career he was thought of as queer. Some people went as far as calling him a homosexual on account of his love for feminine dresses. His delicate looks and female voice didn’t help matter too.

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Pretty like his partner Junior, made headlines in the early 90’s when they emerged on the music scene with their brand of pidgin English rap music.

Unlike the rest of the crowd, they chose their path and a genre of music which they christened fufu flavour. The music caught on and like wild fire it spread.

Monica the hit song  dwelled on the misfortune of an unfortunate town guy who  married a local girl from the village.

The success of the song was all the duo of Junior and Pretty needed to become stars and shine they did.

Today the story is different, Junior is no more. He died a couple of months ago following injuries he sustained from a motorcycle accident. But before he passed on he was married and had two kids.

As for his better musical half Pretty, whose real names are Rowland Okafor, he will be getting married come June 18, 2005 to a heartthrob of seven years.

He spoke to Ogbonna Amadi on why he is marrying late.

Read on

Getting Married

Yeah I’m getting married to an old flame of mine. I met her in 1998 while we were on a road show with Benson and Hedges in  Calabar.

She was a student in University of Calabar and she had come with her friends to see our gig, It was Gina her friend who was known to us (Junior and Pretty), but on the day of the show she came with her friend and three others.

They were all introduced but as the Masters of Ceremony and event managers of the show, we didn’t have much time to mix up.

When we got introduced, I pretended she didn’t exist. But towards the end of the show I approached Gina our close friend and asked if I could talk with her friend.

Go on straight they chorused at me, that’s what we’ve been waiting for.

Let me state that at a point my boss Skid and every other person considered me a shy guy. I hardly spoke to women and would rather keep to myself.

I drove to shows in those days alone and at a point people thought I was queer because I wasn’t speaking to any woman.

Usually, I ended shows as the MC and when this happens, the crowd could leave. Fearing that I’d lose the girl,  I went to her and begged she doesn’t leave until after the show. She nodded.

As from that moment, I began floating and became excited. At least let me prove to all these busybodies that I’m real was the thought that came into my mind.

I liked her from the beginning and as if the whole crew read my mind, they told me I’d make a good couple with Nneobo, that’s her name.

I liked her because, besides being beautiful, she was also as tall as I am.

Finally, I made my move after the show and the rest of the crew toasted to it. From that moment, she became the Queen of the camp.

The general agreement was, if Pretty has finally found his missing rib in Nneobo, then she must be very special.

So long, too long

Naturally , I don’t bother to think what people say about me. My concern basically is what does God feel about me. I heard stories that I am gay and at a point a girl walked up to me and said she wanted to know if I’m a  haemophrodite. Too many stories my brother, floated around town then.

But I was determined to keep to the resolve I made at the age of 12 years which was I’d get married at the age I’m marrying today and that is 33 years.

Now you have to understand me, when I wanted to build my house, I told myself  l would do so when I get to the period I programmed it would happen. All I did was work towards the target. Things hardly went wrong with my target because I have a strong relationship with God.

In everything I do, I set a target. Whether I work backwards or forward, the target I must meet.

Introvert

Because I’m an introvert by nature I keep to myself. I hardly socialise and besides my parents warned me that too many girl-friends could destroy one, so I kept to myself.

Female Dressing

The way I was brought up and the fact that I looked very feminine made me dress up like a woman on stage. Again Pretty is my real name and I thought I could reflect that in my mode of dressing. Nmachukwu is my name and it means the beauty of God, but my mum changed it to Pretty.

I want to believe that my feminine look as a child attracted the name. But all through the years I acted through to type as Pretty I never experienced sexual harassment from homosexual or any other persons, I never experienced it.

I may have looked feminine, but my friends will tell you I could be very rugged and tough.

So far...

At a point in our career, junior and I  opted for event promotions when the music industry began to slide.

Concerts, you’d understand was no longer paying and we thought we could kill two birds with one stone by joining Skid at Red 14.

Red 14 you’d recall, was responsible for the Benson and Hedges concerts. It was at the concerts, Skid signed us up to run the road show, it was a very busy schedule that we had and so we couldn’t find time to get back to the studios.

The road show made more money for us and naturally our musical career suffered, but not for too long.

Setting up a label              

No for too long because after Red 14 left the country, I decided to try my hand at discovering other talented musicians. And that was how Pretty Boy Records came to be.

Junior was not part of it, because this was my own personal dream. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t have problem with Junior as we still remained friends.

Today, I have released into the market two artistes, Shmaik Da Thug and Spider Man. Da Thug plays the kind of music   Junior and I represented in the early days but his genre of music has a Hip-Hop flavour. He sings in Pidgin English too. Spider Man is a dance hall person but does that in Pidgin English. So you may be right to say, I’m trying to recreate and also immortalise the original music (Fufu Flavour) which made us household names in the 90s.

Equipment Rentals

I own and manage the Pretty Boy Entertainment (PBE) Incorporated and we are into entertainment technology. We specialise in event packaging and equipment rental.

You were at some of the venues of Star Trek and I am sure you saw the equipment used. They are ours.

I’m a versatile and restless being and so once I hit an idea, I want to try it out. I have this never say die attitude which deletes the idea of failure from my dictionary.

It’s a big task to run PBE, but for me, there isn’t any difference between running the company and going into the studio to knock out an album.

Studio Equipment

The truth is, I’ve started buying. My friend who lives abroad has been helping me build up a stock. Right now, I own some of the best and most up to date digital equipment in my warehouse, I hope in the nearest future to start local production for the upcoming musicians.

I’ve always wanted to give back to the industry that made me and this has remained the push.

Which way PBE

We are aiming at becoming the best entertainment company to ever emerge from this part of the world. I’m encouraged by members of the company’s board of directors who have never failed to answer to my requests, with them believe me, I never plan to fail. You want to know the names of the directors, they are Father, Son and the Holy Ghost.

Saddest moment of my life

I experienced real sadness when my eldest brother died. He was allegedly poisoned after attending a village festival.

The second time I experienced the same thing was when my friend and long time associate, Junior died.

The most painful aspect of his death was being the last to be told about his death. Nobody told me. I got to hear of it at my office, when one of my staff walked up to sympathise with me. I was in a shock.

When I recovered from the shock, I called his phone and a friend of ours Joe picked up the call.

When Joe confirmed his death, I switched off the phone for about two hours.

After that I drove straight to his house and the first question I asked the wife was how come I was not told. She had no answer.

Anyway that didn’t stop me from playing my part as a friend. But it really did hurt that my friend resorted to writing people for assistance and didn’t think it to call me.

I didn’t know he needed that kind of help. I would have assisted him after all, I did more than that when he was in the hospital.

My brother lets no go further than this, as it could rake up very painful memories.

Cultural troupe thrills Mexicans

THE 2005 edition of the Olin Kan International  Music and Cultural Festival held in far away Mexico must have come and gone, but the spirit still lingers especially among members of the Federal Capital Territory Cultural Troupe that represented the country and part of the 36 countries which participated in the festival. To say the least, the gains of the festival for Nigeria’s art and culture continue to echo as it did not only help in showcasing Nigeria’s cultural values to the outside world, but an event that assisted in boosting the tourism potentials of the Federal Capital Territory in particular and Nigeria in general.

The Secretary, social secretariat of the Federal Capital Territory Administration, Ms. Bolanle Onagoruwa who led the troupe captured the mood of Nigerians when she reiterated the desire of the FCT administration to use culture as a veritable vehicle to boost Nigeria’s tourism endowment.

A statement from the secretariat said Ms Onagoruwa at a press conference in Mexico disclosed that the Federal Government had concluded plans to organize an International Cultural Festival tagged “Abuja Carnival” that would draw participants from all the states of the federation as well as other countries is billed to hold in November this year, adding that the FCT’s cultural troupe based in the Federal capital Territory was a macrocosm of all the troupes as it presents dances from all the six geo-political zones of the country.

According to the statement, the FCT cultural troupe featured at various designated venues around the City of Mexico where they thrilled the audience with the dances as the Fulani, Ajeh, Ekonbi, Gbagyi and the very popular Swange dances as well as captivating rhythms from the traditional Yoruba Talking drum.

Nigeria’s Ambassador to Mexico, Professor Iyorwuese Hagher charged the contingent on arrival while receiving them to live up to their reputation as one of the best troupes in Nigeria.

Copyright infringement: MCSN demands N100m compensation from Vmobile

Telecommunication network service giants Vee Network limited (Vmobile) may have incurred the wrath of newly approved collecting society, the Musical Copyright Society of Nigeria (MCSN).

For selling GSM polyphonic ring tones through its agents to subscribers on its network within the territory of Nigeria, Vmobile, according to the Chief executive of MCSN, Mr. Mayo Ayilaran, “has infringed on our copyright.”

The MCSN chief in a letter dated May 25, 2005 and sent to the telecommunication company, affirmed that his company owned the copyright in most of the musical works contained in a certain advertisement placed in some national newspapers and magazines by Cellulant Nigeria Limited.

In the said advertisement, Cellulant Nigeria Limited, according to Mr. Ayilaran, was purportedly selling GSM polyphonic ringtones to subscribers on Vmobile GSM network without licence from the collecting society.

“We own the copyright in most of the musical works contained in the advertisement and we have not granted Messrs Cellulant Nigeria any authority or licence to exploit any of our music titles for the purpose of producing, supplying and selling ring tones of any nature to your network or any other network for that matter in Nigeria or any where else in the world,” the letter further stated.

In view of the said infringement, MCSN demanded among other things: Immediate stoppage of further production and sales of the telephone ringtones on the Vmobile network.

That Vmobile supply to the MCSN, the account of sales and other transactions including complete logs of sold ring tones in connection with the said matter.

That the payment of N100,000,000.00 (One Hundred Million Naira) Naira only as compensation for the flagrant infringement of the MCSN copyright in the musical works exploited in the illegal transaction be made to MCSN.

Some of the musical works illegally used by Vmobile include, Baby Girl, Hey Yah and Friend like me (Sean Paul), Omo Pupa (Victor Olaiya), and Joromi (Victor Uwaifo).

Others include Sweet Banana (King Sunny Ade), Step in the name of love, (R. Kelly), Mo sori re (I.K. Dairo) and Izinja (Nwenya Sandile).

Gulder ultimate search: Ifeoma assumes leadership

As the Search gradually draws to an end with few days to go,

Samuel Imoke Edoki lost leadership position to Ifeoma Dike, the only surviving female contestant left in the Show.

Chidi’s surprised and unexpected visit to Fort Max base camp very early in the morning and his discovering that the staff of authority was absent in front of the base camp led to his being dethroned. The presence of the august visitor was a rude awakening for the camp mates.

They were short of words at the sight of Chidi, as he was the least visitor they expected to see at that time of the day.

When he heard Chidi’s voice, Samuel made a desperate attempt to place the staff where it ought to be. He always hides it on his body each time he goes to bed.

Without any pleasantries, Chidi went straight to the point. He told Samuel that the Council of Elders had decided not to tolerate his desecration and disrespect to General Maximillian’s staff of authority. Samuel had it tied to his body and used a blanket to cover both himself and the staff.

He was instantly dethroned and leadership privileges taken away from him. The very thing Samuel was avoiding (the staff being stolen, which could lead to his ejection) was what led to his downfall, as he was subsequently ejected from Obudu Hills and from Gulder Ultimate Search.

Before passing the sentence on him, Chidi took him with his camp mates as witness through the ‘‘sins’’ of his predecessors and clips of his mishandling of the staff on his portable DVD player, to prove to him that he too deserves punishment for desecrating the sanctity of the staff, which represents the symbol of their community.

Lucan was relieved of his leadership position because of similar offence Samuel was found guilty of. In Lucan’s case, he was dispossessed of the position for not taking the staff to the task arena and for hiding it on a tree, thereby desecrating the sacredness of the staff.

This action contradicted instruction given by Chidi. Martin was

stripped of leadership privileges because of the loss of his map when going for the day’s task. Besides scolding him for being careless and not recognising the crucial role played by the map in both finding General Maximillian’s hidden helmet and in leading his mates, Chidi told Martin that since he didn’t have the requirement to navigate his ways in the quest and lead his mates, he had to relinquish leadership of Fort Max base camp. Vaughan, who served as lieutenant and armour bearer to Lucan and Martin respectively, also narrowly escaped ejection on account of improper handling of the staff.

He had to exchange the secret he got for winning the C-L-E-O-P-A-T-R-A riddle for his freedom. The ring gave him immunity against eviction for one round. Samuel, who was the only democratically elected leader at Fort Max base Camp, did not seem to have learned from the mistakes of his predecessors, especially Lucan and Vaughan.

In his bid to avoid the staff from being stolen, he decided to tie it to his person and cover himself and the staff with his blanket. Ifeoma’s emergence as de facto leader and staff bearer was inevitable.

The three male Contestants (Lucan, Martin and Vaughn) remaining in the search had tasted power too. While Lucan and Martin assumed positions of authority, Vaughn served them as lieutenant and Armour bearer respectively.

This implies that she would serve as both leader and armour bearer. But when asked how she was going to cope with handling the staff and keeping it safe, Lucan told Chidi that the three male Contestants have decided to assist her in sharing the burden.

King Kenny Tone surfaces, debunks death rumour

Who and where the rumour started from no one could tell, but like a wild fire, it spread fast, King Kenny Tone the famed highlife musician was dead.

No one ever tried to ascertain how true the story was, and so the rumour mills went busy spreading the words.

But a few days ago, King Kenny Tone shocked every soul at the MCSN office in Lagos, when he sauntered in to collect his royalty, update and renew his new membership card.

Apparently sensing the atmosphere in the office as a result of his appearance, King Kenny Tone originally born and christened Sunday Kenneth Otone said, “abeg my people, I never die, na my enemy die. Na wicked people na dem spread rumour say I don die. God forbid make I die before my time”.

And so where has he been all this while and how has he been surviving, TCO enquired.

“My brother, you no say e don tay when I retire from music, I don old as you can see. And since I retire, I dey Warri my hometown and by the special grace of God, na the money wey MCSN dem dey pay me as royalty na him I dey take join the little my children dem dey send take survive”.

“That’s why every morning when I wake up from my bed, na so so prayer I dey pray make God bless dem for MCSN”.

On why he relocated to Warri, King Kenny Tone pointed out that he moved to Warri in the 60’s on the prodding of his white friend when Lido nightclub opened in the oil city.

“Na there I dey play till I no fit play again and na there I come retire from  active music”.

King Kenny Tone, who remembered the music industry of the 50’s and 60’s with obvious nostalgia, told TCO “ the time when I start music na time people like Stephen Osita Osadebe and Victor Olaiya dem dey town. Na me and dem, dey do things together for the industry. Dat time na the better time when musician get plenty respect! But now, small boys no let old men like us drink water”.

Ben Bruce, Zaki, Seun unite against poverty

Ben Murray-Bruce led an array of Nigerian musicians

who stormed the Sheraton Hotels to identify with Creative Storm, an NGO spearheading a global fight against poverty in third world countries especially in Africa.

The group chairman of the Silverbird group had harkened to the clarion call of the Chief Executive of Creative Storm, Kwesi Ossai who was in the country to canvass the support of prominent Nigerians to the global call for debt relief for African nations.

Amongst the musicians who gave their support through a few minute documentary were Zaki, Seun Kuti, Blackky, and Daddy Showkey.

The event was coordianted in Nigeria by Mr Skid Ikemefuna.

In a related development, Creative Storm is staging Africa’s largest charity concert in Accra come September 3,  2005 for the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP).

The GCAP concert will bring together some of the most powerful African and international musical performers in support of the fight against poverty in Africa.

The GCAP campaign was launched in January 2005 by Brazilian President Lula da Silva and by Nelson Mandela at London’s Trafalgar Square.

“As you know, I recently formally announced my retirement from public life and should really not be here. However, as long as poverty persists in our world, none of us can truly rest” — Nelson Mandela to the GCAP rally at Trafalgar Square.

The GCAP concert

The GCAP concert will be staged at the Independence Square, the venue of great concerts such as Soul to Soul, the classic fare featuring top American stars.

The 12 hour show is in association with Ghana’s TUC celebrating its 60 years anniversary and supported by many national and regional organisations.

With live television, the concert is targeted to attract an audience in excess of 400,000 people within Ghana. It will also be filmed for broadcast in 20 African countries and syndicated globally.

The staging will deploy multi media messaging with giant video screens projecting on-stage action, intermittent clips and adverts and messages from globally known figures. There will be opportunities for on-site and on-screen branding and advertising for partners and collaborators. These will include break adverts during the live television broadcasts and on-site spaces for publicity stalls, campaign merchandising and food and beverage services.

Objective

“Every single day, 30,000 children die as a result of extreme poverty” - GCAP. The key objective of the GCAP concert is to raise critical awareness about poverty in Africa and its devastating impact on the lives of millions on the continent. This humanitarian and non profit- making initiative aims to spread awareness to as many people as possible. Consequently, the concert will be free to maximise participation. All artists will perform in support of the critical fight against extreme poverty in Africa.

We hope we can create a powerful synergy between the humanitarian objectives of the concert and the real efforts being made to find lasting solutions to poverty in Africa on the global level.